By Paula Bayarte
Lima (EFE).- A wave of extreme violence against girls and women has shaken Peru in recent weeks, a country already accustomed to high numbers of sexual violence, but also with a broad social tolerance for sexist attacks and authorities that seem forget about the victims.
An unfortunate list of events has been unleashed in just days, in which two women were burned alive by their partners or ex-partners; an “influencer” confessed to a group rape amidst the laughter of his friends; a girl was raped and brutally assaulted, and a nurse was raped by her co-workers in a hospital.
“In each case, we are seeing that the failures are in one institution, in another, in one actor, in another, but basically each case accounts for a system that is not working,” the ombudsman told EFE, Eliana Revollar.
In 2021 there were 136 femicides in Peru; in 2022, 137, and in the first three months of 2023, 40. In March alone, a woman was murdered every 3 days.
“There is a serious problem in which prejudices and stereotypes against women continue to affect the work of police officers, prosecutors and judges,” Melissa Guillén, spokesperson for the feminist organization Manuela Ramos, told EFE.
Guillén and Revollar agree that Peru has laws, mechanisms and protocols, but what is really needed is will and awareness, both in society and in the chain of people who care for a woman who denounces or is attacked.
“Sentences can be increased, make the flagrante act have five days, but if nobody has the will, the conscience and the training to be able to do that as a job that requires them to do it, obviously they are not going to do it,” Revollar agreed.
Government inaction
“However, it strikes us that given the burdensomeness of these events in recent days, there has not yet been a different and more energetic response from the Executive, because there are several tasks that are pending in Peru,” says the defender.
To reverse this situation, they call for prevention, sexual education and grassroots work that promotes respect for women and the search for dialogue and agreements in interpersonal relationships without violence.
In addition, they ask for a specialized justice system that attends with a gender perspective and knowledge of the legal framework, since of the 34 judicial districts of the country, only eight have it.
“A good and feasible measure on the part of the State is the implementation at the national level of a specialized justice system,” explains Guillén.
Revollar also expresses the need to “restructure” and reinforce the Aurora program, which is in charge of the women’s emergency centers and the 100 line, to give immediate responses to complaints.
“We are in serious setbacks, from Congress we do not have any type of support and, as we have seen, from the Executive either (…) The little that has been gained in rights for us is going backwards,” says Guillén.
The lawyer refers to bills from conservative movements in the Legislature that seek to veto inclusive language, change the name of the Ministry of Women to that of Family and limit therapeutic abortion, the only legal one in Peru.
social anesthesia
“The figures show that there is a social tolerance towards violence against women,” says Guillén, who cites a survey by the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) that shows that 30% of those surveyed believe that if the woman lacks respect for her partner, she deserves “some form of punishment”, and she believes that a woman should always be willing to have sex when her partner wants it.
The controversy broke out especially after the statements by the Minister for Women and Vulnerable Populations, Nancy Tolentino, about the young woman burned alive in Lima, because, after conveying her condolences, she stated that she wanted “young women to choose well who they are with.”
Dina Boluarte, the first woman president of Peru, has not yet censured her minister.
The lawyer explains that these words blame the victim, something that is not only in the head of the minister, but is a reproduction of how society is.
The controversy also had echoes when an influencer revealed that he had committed a group rape of a minor and that the Ombudsman’s Office asked to investigate not only for the fact itself, but also for the apology for this crime.
“The woman who has made a thousand efforts to save the shame, the fear of the situation she is experiencing, goes out and goes to the Justice system, can denounce and does not have justice, it is a violence that no longer only has to be attributed to its direct aggressor, but it is an indolent state that does not care about its situation and abandons it”, concludes Revollar.
